Huskers Earn First Big 12 Win Since 2007

Lincoln - The No. 37 Nebraska men's tennis team defeated the No. 49 Oklahoma State Cowboys 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Nebraska Tennis Center for their first Big 12 conference victory since 2007. The Huskers improved to 13-7 on the season and 1-1 in the Big 12 with the win, while OSU dropped to 7-9 and 0-3 in the conference. Both teams had to deal with gusting winds as the match was played on the outdoor courts at the NTC.

Benedikt Lindheim sealed the victory for the Huskers with a three-set victory over Eric West at No. 5 singles, ending the conference-win drought for NU and giving them a big victory. It was the second straight day the Huskers went down to the wire with their opponent, as they were on the wrong side of a 4-3 decision on Friday against Texas A&M.

"It was a great match to win today, especially after yesterday's loss," NU Head Coach Kerry McDermott said. "I think we got a monkey off our back with this win. I thought it was a good character building match for our team."

The Huskers got off to a slow start, dropping the doubles point as they were only able to win one of the three doubles matches. Calin Paar and David Bendheim won 8-6 at No. 2 doubles against Eric West and Anton Bobytskyi, but OSU held off Nebraska in the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead into singles play.

OSU took a 2-0 lead after NU's Christopher Aumueller was forced to scratch after just one game played against Oleksandr Nedovyesov, the nation's 14th-ranked singles player. The Huskers came away with wins in the next three singles matches, as Francois Van Impe, Calin Paar and Andre Stenger each won in straight sets to give the Huskers a 3-2 lead and put them a point away from clinching the team victory.

David Bendheim was pushed to a third set at No. 3 singles after taking the first set, and despite fighting off several match points, he eventually succumbed to OSU's Aleksey Bessonov 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, tying the match at 3-3.

That left No. 5 singles as the final and deciding match of the day. Lindheim and West were already in their third set by the time Bendheim's match was over, with Lindheim up 5-3. West battled back to tie the set at 5-5, but Lindheim dug down and finished strong, winning the final two games and taking the set 7-5, giving the Huskers their fourth and deciding point.

"Benny (Benedikt Lindheim) stepped up when he needed to," McDermott said. "Before the match we talked about being competitive, giving a good effort and having a desire to win, and Benny did all three of those things. This win helps build momentum going into the Big 12 matches next week agains Texas Tech and Baylor. We're starting to get more confidence, I'm proud of these guys' effort."

The win marked the first Big 12 win for Nebraska since a 4-3 win over Texas A&M on April 20, 2007.

The Huskers are in action again next weekend as they travel to Texas Tech and Baylor for a pair of Big 12 matches.

Full Results
NU 4, OSU 3
Singles
1. Oleksandr Nedovyesov (OSU) def. Chris Aumueller (NU), 1-0 (ret. - injury)
2. Calin Paar (NU) def. Anton Bobytskyi (OSU), 6-2, 6-1
3. Aleksey Bessonov (OSU) def. David Bendheim (NU), 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
4. Francois Van Impe (NU) def. Ilija Martinoski (OSU), 6-1, 6-3
5. Benedikt Lindheim (NU) def. Eric West (OSU), 0-6, 6-4, 7-5
6. Andre Stenger (NU) def. Maxi Kuhn (OSU), 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
1. Oleksandr Nedovyesov/Aleksey Bessenov (OSU) def. Andre Stenger/Chris Aumueller (NU), 8-4
2. Calin Paar/David Bendheim (NU) def. Eric West/Anton Bobytskyi (OSU), 8-6
3. Maxi Kuhn/Ilija Martinoski (OSU) def. Francois Van Impe/Benedikt Lindheim, 8-5